The World of Westeros is expanding once again as HBO has settled on its lead actors for the next Game of Thrones spinoff series. On Friday, HBO announced that Peter Claffey and Dexter Sol Ansell will star as Dunk and Egg in the original series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight, which the network ordered to series in 2023.
This will be the third series set in George R.R. Martin’s violent fantasy universe, following Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon. The Hedge Knight is another prequel, set a century before the events of Game of Thrones.
According to HBO, the show follows the young, courageous knight Ser Duncan the Tall (Claffey) and his squire, Egg (Ansell), “in an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne, and the memory of the last dragon has not yet passed from living memory.”
Notably, The Hedge Knight was the first A Song of Ice and Fire novella George R.R. Martin ever published. In fact, it hit shelves before the second book in the series, A Clash of Kings. Though it follows different characters and takes place years prior to the main series, it is an early look into Martin’s ambitions for the enormous fictional universe.
Martin followed The Hedge Knight with two more novellas—The Sworn Sword in 2003 and The Mystery Knight in 2010—which also followed Dunk and Egg. All three were released together in a 2015 collection titled A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
Claffey is a former professional rugby player who previously appeared in Bad Sisters and Wreck. Meanwhile, Ansell began acting at four years old in Emmerdale Farm, and he has also appeared in The Midwich Cuckoos and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.
George R.R. Martin wrote and executive producer The Hedge Knight alongside Ira Parker. HBO still isn’t ready to share any details about the release date.